Monday, October 19, 2009

Just Sayin

I recently pulled out a fall coat that I hadn't worn in some time. I'm one of those people who puts stuff in their pockets and never checks them, even when I lose something. I got a pretty pleasant surprise when I pulled out this:We around here who were lucky enough to have known him, called him, Doc. His real name was Dave Ornee. Doc finished the race that is life, January, 21st 2009. One thing that really rocks about the cycling community, is the people you meet. Dave was one such special person. He built thousands of wheels over his lifetime and was a true master at it. I've handled many a wheel in my time but I've never seen anyone who engineered like Dave. He had a way of looking at simplest of things with a " how can it be improved?" attitude. He understood that, riding a bike could be much more pleasurable if you built certain things (like wheels) better and stronger. He didn't lace a touring wheel the same way he laced street or track wheel. Whenever I'd ask him to build something for a customer he'd ask, how much do they weigh? How do they plan to use them? During his eulogy his daughter Amy made a comment about him. "He would always say to me, Amy, there's no such thing as a failed experiment." That's how he looked at life. When he gravely I'll, a staph infection ravaging is body, he told the doctors to try whatever they thought might work. A deeply religious man, you didn't know it because he never wore it on his sleeve. I didn't know him for very long, but I'll never forget his lessons. I'll just say PEACE, cause I know resting just ain't his style.